IT'S the baby he thought he could never have.

Cancer survivor Tony Maycock, 33, was told it was highly unlikely he would ever father a child after he endured intensive bouts of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in his early 20s.

But now the Christchurch man is overjoyed after his son, Callum, was born at Poole Hospital last week.

"It's such a big bonus for me after everything I went through," he said.

Tony, of St John's Road, was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, at the age of 17. After undergoing radiotherapy, he thought he might be clear, but the cancer returned when he was 21, and he had to go through three long stretches of chemotherapy.

During the treatment, his immune system was so weak, he had to go into isolation and underwent a bone marrow transplant to help boost his immunity again.

"The doctors harvested my own bone marrow before the chemotherapy started, so I was able to use that for the transplant.

"But after the treatment had finished, the consultants sat me down and told me there was a very strong possibility that I would be infertile."

So when the software engineer married Sue, who already had three sons, 18 months ago, the couple never thought they would be able to have a child together.

Sue, 37, said: "We did start think-ing about going for IVF treatment, but in the end we didn't need to."

But the surprise pregnancy wasn't all plain sailing.

"I was in and out of hospital during the last weeks with pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure," said Sue.

Callum arrived around three weeks early, and weighing in at just 5lb 9oz was still quite small, but he is now thriving.

Family and friends have been delighted at the news of the baby's safe arrival and Sue's three other sons, Grant 11, Dean, 9, and Kyle 5, can't get enough of him.

"They just love him," she said.

Tony has been in remission now for 11 years.

He thinks the birth of his son may offer some hope to other people who have to go through treatment for cancer or a bone marrow transplant.

"I have survived and had a baby," he said.

"It shows you can go on to lead a normal life."